Catechesis

New Year’s Masses

The Octave Day of Christmas and Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord will be observed in a celebration of Low Mass Mass in the traditional Latin form on Saturday, January 1, at 2:00 pm at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, New Haven. The Reverend Matthew Mauriello will be the celebrant.

The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus will be observed in a celebration of Low Mass Mass in the traditional Latin form on Sunday, January 2, at 2:00 pm at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, New Haven.  The Reverend Jan Pikulski will be the celebrant.

These two feast days auspiciously inaugurate the new calendar year with a rich liturgical observance.  Saturday’s Mass reiterates many of the texts from the Christmas Day Mass, while the brief Gospel announces the official naming of Jesus at his circumcision.

The texts of Sunday’s Mass all acknowledge in praise of the majesty and power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. Thus are Christians exhorted to invoke this Most Holy Name daily throughout their lives as made clear in the Collect of the Day: “O God, who didst appoint Thine only-begotten Son to be the Saviour of mankind, and didst bid that He should be called Jesus; mercifully grant that we, who venerate His Holy Name on earth, may also enjoy the vision of Him in Heaven.”

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MASS FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, or “GAUDETE SUNDAY”

The Third Sunday of Advent, or “Gaudete Sunday,” will be observed in a celebration of Solemn High Mass at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, New Haven, this Sunday, December 12, at 2:00 pm. The Reverend Richard G. Cipolla, Pastor Emeritus of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, will be the celebrant and homilist, and The Reverend Robert Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, North Branford will serve as Deacon. The Schola Cantorum of the St. Gregory Society will sing the Gregorian chant for the service.

Gaudete Sunday marks the midpoint of Advent. As on Laetare Sunday, the midpoint of Lent, the penitential character of the liturgy is relaxed; the organ is played, flowers are permitted on the altar, and violet vestments are replaced with rose.  The Introit at Mass exhorts Christians to rejoice at the coming of Christ at Christmas in anticipation of His Second Coming at the end of time.

Saint John the Baptist preaches in the Gospel at today’s Mass, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord … the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.” Following John’s exhortation to prepare for the coming of the Lord, the Church urges her faithful in the Communion Antiphon to “take courage and fear not: behold our God will come and will save us.

”Music for the liturgy to be sung by the Schola Cantorum of the Saint Gregory Society will include the Missa Cum jubilo (Vatican edition IX) chant ordinary, the Gregorian proper for Advent Sunday: “Gaudete in Domino semper,” the motets “Ne timeas Maria” by Nicholas Renouf and “Alma Redemptoris Mater” by Palestrina” and organ music by Jean Titelouze.

 

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Mass for the First Sunday in Advent

The first Sunday in Advent will be observed in a celebration of High Mass in the traditional Latin form on Sunday, November 14, at 2:00 pm at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, New Haven.  The Reverend Turner, Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in North Branford, will be the celebrant.

During the season of Advent the Church reflects upon the twofold coming of our Savior: His birth at Bethlehem which will enlighten the world until the end of time, and His return at the last judgment when He comes to condemn the guilty to the flames and call the just with a loving voice to heaven.

Let us prepare for the Christmas feast by holy prayers and aspirations and by reforming our lives, that we may be ready for that last great assize upon which depends the fate of our soul for all eternity. And all this with confidence for those “who wait upon the Lord will never be confounded” as expressed in the Introit, Gradual and Offertory of the Mass on this day.

Music for this service will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary XI (“Orbis factor”), the Gregorian chant proper for the first Sunday in Advent (“Ad te levavi,” the hymn “Conditor alme siderum” by Guillaume Dufay, and the motet“Alma Redemptoris mater” by Palestrina.

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Mass for the XXVth Sunday after Pentecost

The Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost will be observed in a celebration of High Mass in the traditional Latin form on Sunday, November 14, at 2:00 pm at St. Stanislaus Church, State Street at Eld Street, New Haven.  The Reverend Richard G. Cipolla, Pastor Emeritus of St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk will be the celebrant.

In the Gospel for the Mass for this Mass Our Lord presents the parable of the mustard seed to show us how the tiny seed of our faith can grow into the mighty tree of a saintly life, and the parable of the leaven placed by a woman in a loaf exemplifies the effect His Word in calming our passions and bringing forth the marvels of faith, hope and charity of which we read in the Epistle.

Let us meditate on Our Lord’s teaching, that like leaven it may pervade and transform our hearts, and like the mustard seed it may grow into a great tree and bring forth fruits of holiness.

The music for the service, sung by the Schola Cantorum of the Saint Gregory Society, will include the Gregorian Mass Ordinary XI (“Orbis factor”), the Gregorian chant proper for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost (“Dicit Dominus,” the motets “Amen dico vobis” by Heinrich Isaac and “Ave verum Corpus” by Ludovico Viadana. The second offering will be for the benefit of the St. Gregory Society.

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Saint Gregory Purgatorial Society Requiem Mass

Faithful Catholics are exhorted to dedicate the month of November to remembrance and prayers for the Souls in Purgatory. We begin special observances on November 2, the Feast of All Souls, and continue and continue in our private devotions throughout the following days of the month.  A particularly important observance for members and friends of the St. Gregory is the annual Requiem Mass offered for those souls enrolled in the St Gregory Purgatorial Society.

The annual Saint Gregory Purgatorial Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, November 11, at 7:30 pm, at St Stanislaus Church, New Haven. The traditional Gregorian chants for the Requiem will be sung., and he absolution will be prayed at the catafalque.

We encourage you to enroll your departed loved ones whom you would like remembered at the altar of the Lord on this occasion and at the 8:00 am First Friday Masses throughout the following year. The enrollment may be downloaded here:  St Gregory Purgatorial Soc Form. This form may be printed out and mailed to the Society by November 6, or placed in the offering basket at the November 11 Mass .